Thug Life Army

His new single, “Superman,” is climbing the airplay charts faster than a speeding bullet, as rising Latino hip-hop star Brown Boy flies higher than a bird or a plane with the track from his Street Noize/AME album Livin’ Shady.

Brown Boy, aka Dario Perez, is a former middle-school math teacher in his hometown of Blythe, a rural farming community in California on the Arizona border along the Colorado River, who is committed to projecting a positive image for Latinos with his music.

After two previous indie hip hop albums of “Chicano rap,” Brown Boy, a high school nickname that refers to his ethnic background as well as his youthful appearance, was committed to “look inside myself and put out an album about what I’m really going through, the kinds of things I’m feeling now.”

“Superman,” which hip hop artist Brown Boy describes as a song about wanting to rescue “beautiful women who are being abused in their relationships,” has already climbed into the Billboard Pop 100 and is in the Top 30 at Mediabase and Radio & Records, where it has registered more than 9 million listener impressions, cracking the magazine’s Latin Rhythm and Rap charts. The song has attracted Top 10 phones at mainstream Top 40 stations such as San Diego’s KHTS and L.A. powerhouse KIIS-FM, where it has been spun almost 100 times weekly. The song is garnering #1 phones at Rhythm stations like L.A.’s KPWR, San Diego’s Z90, Albuquerque’s KKSS, Colorado Springs’ KIBT and Santa Rosa’s KSXY, as well as receiving airplay at nationally syndicated programs including Sirius Satellite Radio’s Hot Jamz, Poco’s Pero Locos and The Art Laboe Show.

Livin’ Shady features contributions from original Latin hip-hop stars Lighter Shade of Brown, who encouraged Brown Boy early in his career, as well as NB Ridaz, Nino Brown, Fingazz and Zapp. With his experiences as a high school math teacher, Brown Boy, who graduated Cal State San Bernardino with a degree in Criminal Justice, is committed to being a good role model for Latino youth. He regularly visits local high schools with his mentoring program, performing his music while urging students to follow a drug- and gang-free lifestyle that places a high priority on higher education, hard work, focus and self-determination.

“I realize where I came from, kids are going to look up to me,” says Brown Boy. “I’m now in a position where I can encourage people to follow their own dreams like I did, but also make sure they have something to fall back on. This is an album parents can buy for their kids and listen to as well without worrying about hearing bad language. I stand strong on being positive.”

“Yeah, I’m the one/With the S on my chest,” he croons in his hit single.

Able to leap tall airplay charts in a single bound, Brown Boy’s career is taking flight.